Component for absorbing impact energy

The present invention relates to a polymer foam component for absorbing impact energy, comprising an elongated polymer foam block of rectangular cross-section having sides a and b and having a recess which extends along the entire length of the block on one side.

The effectiveness of an impact energy-absorbing component is characterized by a quality factor η, which is from 0.5 to 0.7 in the polymer foam components conventional hitherto. It is calculated in accordance with the equation ##EQU1## where

E 1 is the energy actually absorbed, and E 2 is the energy which could be absorbed by an ideal energy absorber having the quality factor η=1. As the diagram in FIG. 1 shows, a component of this type would have a quasi-rectangular force-displacement characteristic line, so that only a very small deformation s would occur at the maximum impact force F max .

It is therefore an object of the present invention to develop a simple impact energy-absorbing component whose force-displacement characteristic line is essentially approximately rectangular.

We have found that this object is achieved by a component of the type outlined at the outset, in which, according to the invention, the recess having a depth c has a central part of width d with parallel sides, and a terminal circular arc part, and said dimensions satisfy the following equations:

a=0.90 . . . 1.10 . b

c=0.65 . . . 0.80 . b

D=0.45 . . . 0.55 . a

The invention is described in greater detail below with reference to an illustrative embodiment shown diagrammatically in the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a force-displacement diagram of an ideal energy-absorber component,

FIG. 2 shows a cross-section through a component having the features according to the invention, and

FIG. 3 shows a force-displacement diagram for a component represented in FIG. 2.

The component comprises an elongated polymer foam block 1 of rectangular cross-section having sides a and b and having a recess 2 which extends along the entire length of the block (FIG. 2). The impact force F to be absorbed acts on side a, which is on the opposite side to the recess 2. The recess has a central part 3 of width d which is parallel to side b, which adjoins a circular arc part 4. The overall depth of the recess is c. If the above dimensions satisfy the equations

a=0.90 . . . 1.10 . b

c=0.65 . . . 0.80 . b

d=0.45 . . . 0.55 . a,

the force-displacement characteristic lines represented in FIG. 3, which are virtually rectangular, are obtained, the curve parameter being the density ρ of the component material. For comparison, a characteristic line 5 of conventional polymer foam components is shown.

The dashed contour 6 shown in FIG. 2 indicates the deformation of the foam block 1 at maximum impact force F max . When the impact force abates, the block returns to its original shape virtually elastically.

Suitable foam materials are hard and semi-hard foam systems, such as expanded polypropylene, polyurethane and polyvinyl chloride.

Experiments using components of the invention made from such materials have shown that the quality factor η is considerably increased over conventional components.